In 1888, in France, the stylist Alexandre Godefroy built what is recognised as the first hair dryer: a seated bonnet connected to the chimney of a gas stove, made for his salon. You could not carry it anywhere. Handheld dryers only arrived around 1920. For a long time, drying hair was something you went somewhere to have done.

Which makes the Shark blow dryer a funny little twist in the story. SharkNinja began as Euro-Pro, founded in Montreal in 1994 by Mark Rosenzweig, moved to the Boston suburbs in 2003, took the SharkNinja name in 2015 and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in July 2023. A vacuum and kitchen company, in other words, which moved into beauty in October 2021 with the Style iQ dryer and three attachments that adjust heat and airflow on their own. It tested with hundreds of customers at home, about 200 in salons and ten leading stylists. That is how an appliance maker thinks, and I find it a useful way to think about hair.

The trick is to see the first grid as a system, not a single dryer. SpeedStyle Pro is the straightforward, high-velocity dryer, and WWD called SpeedStyle the little sister to FlexStyle when it launched in 2023. SpeedStyle Pro FLEX in Strawberry Matcha adds the attachments. FlexStyle in Winter Pearl and FlexStyle IonCurl in Lilac turn the same air into a multi-styler and a curling system. Glam Ceramic comes with a diffuser, Glam Build Your Own lets you choose the tool head, Glossi is a hot tool that glosses, and SilkiPro dries and straightens in one pass. Pick by how you style on a normal Tuesday.

Hold a dryer at arm's length for two minutes. If your wrist complains, it does not matter how good the airflow is, because you will stop using it. Weight and handle shape decide more about a dryer than any spec sheet.

Dyson has two here. The Supersonic Nural in Ceramic Pink and the Supersonic r are the benchmark that Shark's Style iQ was positioned against when it launched, according to Woman & Home. T3 brings the Featherweight StyleMax, which does what its name says, with automated heat, and the Aire IQ, an intelligent dryer that adjusts as you go.

Drybar's Buttercup PRO comes with a diffuser, which is the detail that matters if you wear curls. BaBylissPRO's Italian Rapido is the plainest professional dryer on the list. ghd sends two, the Helios at 1875W and the Air at 1600W, and the wattage in each name makes choosing easy: more power for thick hair, less for fine.

A pairing I like: a lighter dryer for everyday drying, and a stronger one for the mornings you are in a hurry.

What I would skip: buying a second dryer before you have used the attachments on the first. Most people never touch a diffuser.

Blowouts go wrong when they are rushed. Dry in sections, and work the round brush through each one slowly while the nozzle follows it, because hurrying is how you end up with a bend in the wrong place and a sore arm.

Oribe makes two, the Medium Resin Round Brush and the Medium Round Boar Bristle, and they are the ones I would pick for a polished, smooth finish. BaBylissPRO's Thermal Round Brush and Moroccanoil's Ionic Ceramic Thermal Brush in 55mm are the workhorse pair. amika's Blowout Babe and Mane's It's Giving Body Medium Hot Thermal Round Brush add a bit of volume for fine hair, and the brush name is honest about it.

BondiBoost's Infrared Heated Thermal Hot Round Brush is the most gadgety, because it heats the barrel itself. The Dyson Airwrap Large Round Brush Attachment only matters if you own the Airwrap, but for that person it is the obvious add-on.

Get the hair 80 percent dry with a nozzle dryer, then finish with the round brush. The brush does the shaping, the dryer does the labour.

What I would skip: a hot thermal brush on hair that is still soaking. Rough-dry first.

Heat protectant belongs on damp hair, before any tool. The American Academy of Dermatology suggests blow-drying less, using low to medium heat and a heat protectant, since excessive heat can damage hair of any type.

Kérastase has two, Resistance Heat Protectant Leave-In Styling Cream for damaged hair and Nutritive Heat Protecting Styling Cream for dry hair, which is an easy way to pick by need. K18's HeatBounce and BondiBoost's Strawberry Gum Miracle Mist are leave-in conditioners that double as protection. Fenty Beauty's Protective Type is a 5-in-1 styling cream, Briogeo's Farewell Frizz is made for blow-dry perfection, and Mizani's 25 Miracle Milk and Virtue's Strength & Shield are leave-in conditioners with heat protectant built in.

A mist suits fine hair, a cream suits thick or coarse hair, and a light hand helps with both. Comb it through once so every strand gets a little. Concentrate the product from mid-lengths to ends, where hair is oldest and driest.

What I would skip: relying on the brand's claim that a tool regulates temperature and then drying on the highest setting anyway. The tool helps, the settings are still yours.

A Shark is best for the person who wants one tool to replace three. Shark says its dryers measure and regulate temperature 1,000 times per second, which I read as the brand's claim, and I like it most as a reason to use less heat, not more.

So I would choose the SpeedStyle if you straighten or wave, the FlexStyle IonCurl if you curl, and add a heat protectant you will really use. Godefroy had a gas stove and a chimney. You have a mist and a bit of patience. If you want to keep browsing, I also put together Dyson Airsmooth and Blow Dryer With Comb Attachments for Smoother Blowouts.